Chapter 39

Upon arriving at the royal palace, I searched for Miel first. Since I didn’t know anyone, I wanted to see Miel’s face all the more. You know how it is—when attending a new academy or entering high school after graduating middle school, being surrounded by strangers makes you feel awkward, so you unconsciously search for a close friend. That was precisely my situation right now.

Most of the people here knew me, and every time I passed by, they introduced themselves and offered greetings, but I didn’t know a single soul.

Right then, I spotted a man with blonde hair shining even through the distant gloom, scratching his head vigorously as he walked toward me. It was Prince Fren, one of the few figures I knew, and the very person who had once plunged me into severe danger.

The moment our eyes met, both of us exchanged sighs as we looked at each other’s faces.

“Haa.”

“Phew.”

And then, we both burst into laughter simultaneously. Fren and I had somehow become close friends ever since that day. How should I put it? There was zero romantic tension between us as a man and a woman, and being around Fren somehow made me feel like I had slipped back into the past.

“P-Puhahaha. Why aren’t you heading straight into the party hall, of all places, and wandering around out here? You.”

“Hmph, look who’s talking. What kind of agonizing dilemma could you possibly be mulling over to make you scratch your head raw like that while walking?”

Seeing Fren scratch his head again at my question, I answered first.

“I’m looking for Miel. Have you seen Miel anywhere?”

“Hmm, I asked you this before, but by Miel, do you mean Lady Harmiel?”

I nodded, and Fren looked at me with a strange expression.

“But you used to hate Lady Harmiel. Are you planning to bully her again today?”

“I don’t hate her anymore. And as for bullying her, I’ve already apologized.”

If anything, I’m in love with her. You might have forgotten, but my ultimate goal is to take Miel as my wife. And I have never once forgotten that objective.

At my words, Fren muttered a small “Good for you” before shaking his head. It seemed Fren had no idea where Miel was either.

“Really? Then it’s fine. See you later in the party hall.”

“Don’t ask me to dance, even as a joke. The rumors haven’t completely died down yet. And by the way, you look pretty today.”

“Pfft. Thanks.”

Noticing Fren still wincing as if suffering from the lingering aftermath of those rumors, I told him I understood and quickly stepped away from the spot. Walking a short distance further, I ran into a rather familiar face. Carusien, still as handsome as a gigolo, widened his eyes when he spotted me.

“Oh, Teacher Carusien. Nice to see you.”

“……….”

Having offered my greetings first as a proper student, I waited for a response, but when Carusien remained entirely silent, I glanced up at his face. He kept his mouth covered while staring right at me. However, his face was flushed red, as if he were feeling unwell.

Perhaps he wasn’t feeling well, yet he was forced to show up anyway because of our mother?

“Teacher?”

When I called out to him a second time, he finally flinched and accepted my greeting.

“Ah, long time no see. Lady Armienne.”

“It’s only been a week, though?”

“Is that so?”

Only a week had passed, yet he was calling it a long time—Carusien seemed rather strange today. But since I had zero interest in guys, I quickly brought up the real reason I was here.

“Have you seen Miel?”

“I have not.”

Watching Carusien answer the moment the question left my lips, I simply told him I understood, said I’d see him later in the party hall, and resumed wandering around the royal palace in search of Miel. By some bizarre coincidence, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was bumping into the male leads one by one today.

She’s nowhere in sight.

Since things had turned out this way, I figured I’d just head into the party hall alone. I wasn’t a little kid anymore; I couldn’t just keep hesitating and hiding outside forever just because I felt nervous about this kind of thing. Yet the thought of having to act like a confident ducal princess in front of strangers still made my breath catch in my throat.

Of course, practically speaking, there was no one present who would dare give me a hard time, but knowing that and feeling it were two entirely different matters.

Just as I was drawing close to the entrance of the party hall, a crisp, sharp sound echoed through the air.

Whack—.

Hearing that sound, my eyes widened.

No, this is that crisp, cheerful sound like when I smack Ahre’s palm!

As if to prove my tension from just moments before was a lie, I suddenly grew intensely curious about the source of that sound and hurried straight toward where it had echoed.

It was the royal palace garden, and there stood Miel—my personal angel, shining brightly even from afar.

To think she was in a place like this!

Since I had purposely been looking around areas far away from the party hall, it made complete sense that I hadn’t been able to find her. As the old saying goes, the darkest place is right under the candlestick, and it really seems like the wisdom of our ancestors never misses the mark. Recalling the words of our great ancestors, I hurried over at an even faster speed out of sheer delight.

The closer I got, the clearer Miel became, glowing under the evening moonlight, accompanied by women who looked like stray pebbles on the street by comparison.

And those pebbles, upon seeing me, immediately started calling out to me like cult fanatics.

“Lady Armienne!”

“Sob, it’s been so long, Lady Armienne! Why did you take so long to get here? We’ve been waiting for you with our necks stretched out.”

Whether they had actually stretched their necks waiting or not, no lie, I didn’t even know these people’s names. On top of that, perhaps because I had grown so accustomed lately to the out-of-this-world looks of Miel, Ahre, and Mother, they genuinely started looking like ordinary pebbles to me.

Gasp! My standards have gotten way too high.

Back in the day, I used to think any girl was fine, but human beings are truly fickle creatures. Furthermore, seeing as the current situation involved them confronting Miel, I had zero intention of taking their side.

“Who are you?”

Miel burst into laughter while the pebbles looked so utterly shocked I half-expected their eyeballs to pop out. The choice of whose side to take was already decided.

“P-Puhahaha. Armienne, aren’t you going too far?”

Perhaps mesmerized by the smile of my cute and lovely Miel, the pebbles blinked blankly, alternating their gaze between me and Miel. Seeing that sight, my perception of them was dangerously shifting from pebbles to goldfish.

“H-how could Lady Armienne do this to us?!!!”

That’s because I don’t know who you are, which is why I can.

“Have you perhaps come down with amnesia or something?!”

You guys really don’t know when to hold back against the scariest villainess in this country. If Mother had been standing right here, your tongues would have been cut out on the spot.

They provoked me relentlessly as if they felt deeply wronged, but I merely let out a snort. After spending a whole week taking all the insults imaginable under Heinel’s rigorous tutoring, their words sounded no different to me than goldfish blowing bubbles.

Was I grateful to Heinel for that, you ask? Absolutely not. Never, ever. Just the mere thought of that sarcastic bastard’s face made my blood run backward, threatening to knock me out with high blood pressure.

Reminded of Heinel, I pulled out a killer joke to clear the heavy atmosphere. It was a joke perfectly suited for a situation like this.

“Why, got a problem? I’ve got water, too.”¹

“………….”

Ahem, I suppose that wasn’t it. It was the first joke I’d ever cracked in my life, and it completely flopped. Instead, the atmosphere grew even more icy, and the young ladies completely lost their minds over my joke, pointing straight at me and shouting.

“H-how could a trashy joke like that come out of someone who isn’t even a commoner!”

“Even my father wouldn’t tell a joke like that!”

“Lady Armienne has changed!”

Oh, now you finally noticed.

Damn it, I had tried to let things slide peacefully, but their words mercilessly slashed and wounded my fragile heart. Thanks to them, I figured I had developed a lifelong trauma that would ensure I never told a single joke ever again.

“Armienne. I’m sorry, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell jokes like that.”

Gasp, for even Miel to say something like that. Was it really that bad? From now on, I figured I needed to read books that actually contained funny jokes.

Anyway, since I couldn’t vent my frustration at Miel, I decided to take out my wounded heart on the young ladies standing right in front of me.

“Kneel.”

“Eh?”

Watching the young ladies let out dumbfounded noises as if they had misheard my words, I kindly repeated myself once more.

“Are you deaf? I said kneel down in front of Miel, all of you.”

“Oh my, you really don’t have to go that far, Armienne.”

As expected, Miel’s kind heart made her an angel through and through. She was simply too sweet. To think she was trying to show mercy and kindness even to pebbles like these—yet the more Miel tried to stop me, the more I found myself unable to forgive those who had dared to harass her. True, if it had been the Armienne of the past rather than me, she would have been the one bullying them the most viciously, but that wasn’t me, and it was all in the past anyway—so every single fault belonged entirely to them.

“No way!”

“Since when did the two of you get this close!”

Tsk, watching them still fail to grasp reality and desperately deny it, I proceeded to hand each of their foreheads a solid rap with my knuckles.

“Hey! Kneel down already!”

“Eek!”

“Sob, I’ve never even been hit by my father before.”

Watching them shriek over a mere rap to the head and reluctantly drop to their knees, I was reminded of Ahre, who refused to yield to any discipline when snacks were involved. While Ahre wouldn’t care if a sword blade touched her neck so long as food was in front of her, these people surrendered over a single knuckle-tap—making them even lower than pebbles compared to Ahre.

“Oh, really, you don’t have to do this, Armienne. I’m fine.”

“Huh? No, it’s fine. Just leave it to me, Miel. I’ll handle everything.”

Miel kept trying to dissuade me with a soft smile, and the more she did, the harder I worked to put the young ladies through the wringer. However, I didn’t realize it at the time: those young ladies weren’t just glaring at me, the one directly tormenting them—they were glaring with even greater animosity at Harmiel, who stood right beside us gently pretending to hold me back.

In any situation, a meddling sister-in-law is always more detestable than a harsh mother-in-law. Eventually, one of the young ladies couldn’t hold it in any longer and growled.

“Lady Harmiel. Grr-chitter.”

Oh! To dare grind your teeth in front of Miel—in the military, that would be an immediate offense punishable by death.

“You raise your hands up, too. Hurry!”

“Sob, this is too much, Lady Armienne.”

Watching her raise her hands obediently even while complaining, I finally wore a satisfied smile. The thought of having to act friendly around these people had long since flown out of my mind. My head was currently filled entirely with thoughts of holding Miel’s hand and dancing happily together in the party hall.

“Miel, will you dance with me today?”

Hiding my pounding heart, I asked Miel, and Miel replied with a smile a moment later.

“Huh? I don’t dance? I can’t dance.”

Oh, holy shit.

As expected, this world definitely hated me.

Well, as much as I hated to admit it, the ball itself passed by without a major hitch, thanks to Heinel’s hellish tutoring. I didn’t want to drag out the story about how I couldn’t even dance with Miel.